Cattle-guard.



E. J. SORTLAND.

CATTLE (5U-ARD.

APPLacATIoN FILED Nov. 1s, 191s.

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Patented Feb. 27, 1917.

ENGWALD .THON soETLAND, E NEUTRAL VALLEY, ALBERTA, CANADA.

CATTLE-GUARD.

Specification of Letters Patent. PatentedrFeb. 27, 1917.

Application led November 13, 1916. lSerial N o. 131,167.

To all whom t may concern.'

Be it known that I, ENGWALD J. SORT-J LAND, a subject of the King of -Grreat Britain, and resident of Neutral Valley, in the Province of Alberta, Dominion of Canada, have invented certain new and useful l'Improvements in Cattle-Guards, of which the following is the specification.

This invention relates to cattle guardsparticularly adapted to be utilized on railway crossings 4and the like, and the object of the inventionis to provide for the automatic operation of the cattle guard thereby preventing animals from straying on the railway track. Further objects are to render the guard compact in construction and to adapt the several parts'to better perform the functions required of them. With the above and other objects in view the invention consists essentially of the improved construction particularly described and set forth in the following specification and accompanying drawings forming part of the same.

In the drawings,

Figure 1 is a perspective View of a railway crossing embodying the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a transverse section of the im- Referring to the drawings, A represents the cattle guard consisting of a casing 10 designed to be partially embedded in the ballasting and located below the rails of they track B and extending transversely under the same, the said casing carrying a shaft 11 rotatably mounted therein. o

This shaft is rigidly attached to the lower end of a plurality of barrier members C which are adapted to lie in a normally horizontal plane and are located intermediate of the rails of the track and on opposite sides of the track and designed to be ro tated in a vertical plane in a manner to be made clear hereafter.

The casing 10 is provided with a top 12 capable of vertical movement'and'carrying on its underface a plurality of brackets 13 provided with racks 14 meshing with the pinions 15 rigidly mounted on the shaft 11 thereby facilitating in transmitting rotary motion to the said shaft when the said top is depressed.

The top 12 is held normally spaced from the casing 10 by the spiral spring 16 located between the bottom of the said casing and the bracket 17 mounted on the cover plates 18 carried by the top. These cover plates are designed to bridge the opening between the top 12 and the body of the casing 10 thereby preventing the track ballasting from entering the casing and impeding the action of the mechanism housed thereon.

The assembly of the guard will be readily understood from the foregoing description.

When the cattle guard is in use the barrier members C occupy a normally horizontal position and on an animal 'straying on the railway track and coming into contact with the top 12 of thecasing 10 rotary motion is transmitted to the shaft 11 which in turn rotates the barrier members C through a substantial right angle and bars the passage of the animals.

Although under ordinary circumstances the barrier members C would return to their normally horizontal position under gravity, it will be understood that the upward movement of the cover 12 is accelerated by the spiral spring 16 so that there is no liability of the barrier members being retained in a vertical position and that under all circumstances they are returnedto their normally track open to traffic.V

From the above description it will be seen that I have invented al cattle guard which can be advantageouslyemployed on railways and the 4like and in which the barrier member is automatically operated to prevent animals straying'on the railway track.

As many changes could vbe made in the above construction and many apparently widely different embodiments of my invention, within the scope of the claim, constructed without departing from the spirit or scope thereof, it is intended that all matter contained in the' accompanying specii-. cation and drawings shall be'interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

What I claim as my invention is:

A cattle guard of the class described comprising a casing having a diagonally eX- tending lateral entrance thereto, a transversely extending shaft operatively mounted in the casing, a pinion wheel on the shaft, a plurality of barrier members having offset ends passing through said lateral entrance and operatively connected to the shaft and plane, a cover normally elevated from said in an elevated position, Vas and for the purcasing, cover plates carried by the cover depose speciied. l; signed to bridgethe space between the said In Witness whereof I have hereunto set my cover and casing when the cover is. elevated, hand in the presence of two Witnesses. vertical-racks operatively supported by the ENG/VALD JHON SORTLAND. cover meshing with the pinion Wheels, diago- Witnesses:

nal braces extending from said racks to said WILLIAM JAMES MCNUTT,

Cover, and springs designed to hold the cover ARTHUR BANTON.

Copies of this patent inay be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C. 

